Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1887-05-12
rHr AUrnon on usHrg sxPEAINs
ISN'T His Explanation ~ Not 40
cepssd as Satisfactory.

-
ssus isis Explanation ~ Not Ac-
copied as Satisfactory.
New York Evening Post
Mr.. Rider Haggard has sent to the
London Tyiass a defence Of himself
against the charges Of plagiarism which
have abounded In England 90 IN America.
He says that on his return from abroad
be found himself confronted with box
full Of Newspaper cuttings ION the sub
ject, 80 many In number that be has mot
read all of them because Ibis strength
failed him !" but he has read enough to
complain "that in many instances they
are not remarkable for amiability OF.
tone" We do not think this should be.
since the tone Of oensure
never is remarkable for amiabihty.
As for the business Of the censure, we
must say that Mr.. Haggard'a defence la
rather Of the nature OF what the lawyers
call confession and avoidance The
verses In "Jess,n which, as the Fcenfag
Post was first to observe, after going the
rounds OF the newspapers were included
in q volume published In New York in
1874, were '1sent some years ago by q
friend" to Mr.. Haggard. He says
had no Idea OF appropriating them as
my own. do not write verses, and there
fore the question never presented itself to
my mind in the light In which II has been
put before the public, But ! sincerely re-
gret having published tne nnes a. a,os aioi
nos psSauSg sn1er .n nc ,srnns hn, ia.
nansa d,S a HING m tbp ~" paa oman IN mia
fntaTpretation. Eyerybody who knows me
is, / think, aware thai / aln quite incapable
OF wishing TO take the credit OF the work OF
others. Those who do not know me, IL they
are uncnaritaple, come 70 = ainerent con,
clusloh: rsgree tnas ,l sno pnr,,, n NAV
anS n,nre shssns All raors, ths wr,n9 that
nave inconsistency done to the real author
OF the lines In Question, whoever she or he
may be.
We have no idea what Mr.. HaRpard's idea
of appropriatinQ may be. The common
idea Of Il ia printing under ones own
name matter written by another. Per-
haps In his next work Mr., HaQpard will
give ma. as original. stanzss beginning,
aShe was a Phantom of delieht,m or
s.John Gilpin was citizen.n which ao-
cordina 10 him would not be wrong"
and certainly would not be 'iopen TO mis-
Interpretation. The verses put into the
month of Angela in DAWN also, Mr..
Hagpard now admits were not his own.
as was proved recently in the Pail Mali
Gazette. But thew were written by one
of his family connections s'and published
as they appear by her own wish This
last phrase is conclusive as to Mr.. Hag-
CARDS deficient sense of literary pro-
priety. The question ia mot whether he
haa tha conaant m othar ,yr;tays 10 mao
tha;. .o..o. az ~ 80 ~ $780,. r.,t,;oh
.nell tnheteE as LIS own Va cohsoht "hiVh
ne aiu nos nave TOT the stanzas IN jess };
It is between himself and the public
whether he may rightfully hold out Dor.
rowed matter as original. he thinks that
he may.
MI. Haggard says nothing about the
use he makes in liking Solomon's Mines
OF the passage from Bedes " Ecclesiastical
History Quoted in Green's Making Of
England"). She, he says, was not imi-
tated from the Epicurean, which heneyel
read, nor from the legend Of Urashima,
which also, he implies, he has not seen
the germ of ''She" was South African
legend, OF which he made such use as in
our opinion is legitimate. He maker
some further acknowledgements no con
sequence, such rs that he paid foreign
gentleman hVe shllllngs for translatint
something into Portuguese, and had 'th'
KIND assistance OF three eminent ant
learned scholars in connection with thu
inscriptions" and concludes by saying
These charges Of plagiarism are easy Il
make and difficult to disprove. 1t Is quit,
Impossible tor anybody to write anything
IN. .L., ices NOT IN some way touch on grounC
MI Tay hr nas air1aay oeen !rodden py Others
ana. r. navar tbinhs ne,, a sh uIvnan aS
most that It can hone 70 ID n ~ prassrt a,
old one In new aspect. -
This ia NOT nart;psnt n NJ. uo...a,
oase. baoausa tba Chief .harna ..a;sss. ~.
il tbat be annronriatas tha sos1 ,nass n' =
other writsra oiTar,ma r. 'eS moias y
and this he Observation-Disclosures and ..sir IN WI
r .u y e M nsaorns m anu sincelel.
making and d;f3enlty ~ S;snro U y
cbaroes of nlag;ar;sm wh;oh ,u usPtg w. 4
point as eonoerning a s;noia $500 ~ ~ !.
malioiousl ATTACH hsco,nas sana .bthep r.
faoe ot i aenarol ortnru . .aus naDie l !,
affected public. And. fairly speaking 4
is not true, as Mr.. Haggard means it, tina
charges OF plagiarism are easy to max,
and hard to disproye. Il is true that i
not quits Impossible. " il is u. east yery
difficult "foF anybody to write anything
that does notinsoIne way touch on gro,.u,
which has already been trodden b,
others" but the question is precisel,
about the "way." To do ii In the ,s,n,
way with Others, and do II repeatedly, il
what makes charges of plagiarism eas,
and difficult of disproof. fncidents q
''situations' are not many, compared witt
the number of books. To be born, 4
die; TO be we'll or i'll, rich or poor; /,
love, to be loved or scorned; 10 ain
''fortiter" or otherwise, to be braze,
about 1t, or humbly ashamed-these ar
pretty much the sum of life for mos
people. But the combinations of tbes
things are many, and there Is room fo
novelty in fiction yet. As for the impos
sibility of new thought, we will presen
one which will be new to Mr.. Haeeard
it is that the reason why one must no
crib is not because il ia .open 10 misin
depreciation, but because il is "wron0
THE 1uruopsu,p ON t,,un
ia ~. 49,. - m,
| 1900, ~ =" ilussJr q ne 1rson'ae. SIR
1, .;,,s .he pook NOTICES In today
a,'t, 0a"o 20 1. snors review OF HE, by tn
T i;aSad III u nng solomon's Wives" pub